Shielded insulated wires or coaxial cables have a conductor core with a sheath of insulation therearound, an outer insulating jacket and a shield means, such as a braid or foil, between the sheath and the jacket. Coaxial cables of the character described are becoming increasingly miniaturized and commonly are termed "microcoaxial" cables and are used for high speed signal applications. For instance, a 50 ohm microcoaxial cable may have an outside diameter on the order of 1.9 mm which can be terminated on a 2.5 mm pitch either in a single row or a multi-row configuration. Contacts terminated to the ores of such cables are mated to compliant pins fixed in a plane of a 2.5 mm grid array.
Such microcoaxial cable and connector systems are available with the cables terminated to their respective contacts by crimping or soldering termination techniques. A problem with such techniques is that they require considerable time in preparing the cables, such as exposing the braided or foil shield means, as well as terminating the cables to their respective contacts. Termination tooling for such applications normally require several tools to carry out the completed terminating and grounding operations. Other problems involve discrepancies between the electrical potential between separate cable/contacts, and "crosstalk" may occur between any members of a multi-cable system at different electrical potentials.
A solution to the above problems is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,166,230 to Dechelette et al., dated May 26, 1992, assigned to the assignee of this invention and which is incorporated herein by reference. That patent shows a connector assembly which eliminates crimping or soldering termination techniques, which requires less cable preparation than prior art techniques, which requires much simpler application tooling, and which substantially reduces crosstalk. The connector assembly therein includes conductive grounding terminal means having piercing means for displacing the outer insulating jacket of the coaxial cable upon application of a force on the grounding terminal means generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cable. A signal terminal has at least one deflectable wall portion which is terminated to the conductor core also upon application of a force directed generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cable.
The present invention is directed to further improvements in electrical connector assemblies of the character described above by providing a preassembled module which includes both the conductive grounding terminal means and the signal terminal assembled as a module and inserted into a connector housing as a modular unit which further reduces the time and manual operations required in assembling the connector.